Riding the Raisina Tiger

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THE US has been
conducting drone operations in a number of countries with a view to eliminating
extremists and jihadi elements that are seen as the source of international
terrorism. Pakistan has been one of the victims of this policy. Its
north-western border, particularly the province of Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa, seems
to bear the brunt of these attacks.

Hundreds of
‘jihadi’ elements and a number of leading persons, including Tehreek-i-Taliban
Pakistan (TTP) and Afghan Haqqani leaders have been killed in these attacks.
Hakeemullah Mehsud, head of the TTP was killed a few days after the summit
meeting between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and US President Barack Obama,
despite the issue having been raised by the former.

Unmanned aerial
vehicles (UAVs), commonly known as drones, are multipurpose technological
marvel that can neutralise minuscule ground targets as small as a human body
with unmatched accuracy. These are being employed extensively by the US and
some other major powers, particularly Israel, for targeted killing of their
perceived enemies. While these powers may be eliminating threat to their
national security to some degree, their unilateral action without the
concurrence of the target country has serious international ramifications, both
legal and ethical.

The Americans
continue to ignore Pakistan government’s protests against violation of its
sovereignty and kill its citizens without any inhibition. But surprisingly,
Pakistan has neither taken up the issue at any international level nor
attempted to shoot down these highly air interception vulnerable drones. There
is a wide suspicion that in this case the Pakistan army unable to subdue the
‘jihadi’ elements despite heavy casualties has perhaps agreed tacitly to look
over the shoulder while the CIA continues with its task.

Pakistan is not the
only country where the US has resorted to such precise killing of unsuspecting
victims from the air. It has been using the drones in Afghanistan, Yemen,
Somalia, Iraq and Libya with amazing effectiveness. Thousands of people have
been killed in these countries in this manner.

Thus, unmanned
armed drones emerged as the single-most effective weapon system with the
Americans in taking on the Taliban leadership selectively. At any given time,
dozens of drones loiter over Afghanistan. They spy on the Al Qaida and
insurgents round the clock, and strike as soon as the target is identified.
Success of drone strikes in eliminating the militants on the CIA hit list led
the US to intensify these low-cost high-dividend operations in a big way.

It would not be
out of place to mention here that following the US example, a number of
European countries, as also third world countries, have acquired the UAVs. Some
countries, particularly the US and Israel, are presently investing heavily in
drone projects, for that seems to be the future. The Israelis, like the
Americans, have long resorted to the targeted killing of their enemy, the
Palestinian insurgents. The Israelis justify their option even if it is
tantamount to assassination because of the existential threat they face. The
Americans too justify this type of extra-judicial killing as self defence in
the war against the Al Qaida. Notwithstanding, this asymmetric warfare is
tantamount to summary execution and may, in not-too-distant a future, be
considered as a crime against humanity in an undeclared war situation.

There is another
aspect of drone operations that needs to be taken note of. The drones have the
potential of being used by the so-called non-state actors and terrorists of
various hues. The danger also lies in these drones being exploited by lesser
nations for devious purposes. Unless some measures are taken, as in the case of
weapons of mass destruction, there is a danger of these aerial platforms
becoming a major security risk in the future.

Besides, drone attacks
raise serious legal and ethical questions. Presently, the powers that be are
conducting these operations with total disregard to violation of sovereignty,
territorial integrity and the legality of such operations. It’s strange that
there is hardly any explicit criticism by any country. Nor for that matter have
any of the international forums or the human right organisations raised their
voice against such unethical practices by major powers.

However desirable,
the elimination of these extremists in this fashion is questionable to say the
least. ‘Jihadi’ criminals must not go unpunished but targeting them like this
is illegal and unethical. Technological advances outpacing the existing
international laws and conventions perhaps require new set of regulations and
their acceptability.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20131231/edit.htm#6

Be wary of information detractors

The army deserves
to be complimented on its ability to see through the lengthy procedure of
military justice with a sense of balance and ensure that the alleged
perpetrators are brought to justice, but like in any such system patience has
to be exercised so that justice is meted out and seen to be correctly executed.

Lt Gen Syed Ata
Hasnain (Retd)

in April 2010, the
third year of street protests in Kashmir was warming when brief media reports
indicated that an army unit de-inducting after spending 24 months on the Line
of Control (LoC) allegedly eliminated three young innocent persons in a fake encounter
in the Machil area of the North Shamshabari, pass of their bodies as those of
foreign terrorists and garner the credit in the “numbers’ game”. Post this
incident, a brief inquiry by the Jammu and Kashmir Police indicated that there
had been a conspiracy. Identifications were done after exhumation of the bodies
and news of the incident went viral, leading to a spurt in the street protests.
An alleged isolated incident slurred the army’s reputation and provided an
impetus for the 2010 separatist campaign which would paralyze not only Kashmir
but almost the entire nation. Machil thus became a byword in the Valley and the
latest symbol of alleged human rights violations by the army.

For all the
alleged dastardly nature of the incident, the army had to first take stock of
the situation. It had been manipulated many times in the past to put it on the
back foot, although admittedly it had a history of mistakes, as is wont to
happen when any army thanklessly battles a sponsored militancy where the
information/disinformation struggle becomes a part of the adversial campaign.
It correctly followed the legal procedure to arrive at the current juncture but
the skeptics continue to doubt its credentials towards justice.

On December 26,
2013, the nation woke to headlines stating that the perpetrators of the
incident were to be tried by a general court martial (GCM). The perceived delay
in justice (three and a half years), the apparent lack of knowledge about the
military justice system and the emotions connected to the recall of the
incident created enough of a potpourri to send the social media into a tizzy.
Some perceived that the verdict was about to be announced as also the sentence,
while others worked overtime to denigrate the army for the delay, painting it as
the typical response of denial of justice by the army. A few explanations on
social media put the procedural aspects and facts in the right perspective and
better informed people started to change their ideas and in fact appreciate the
army’s actions.

Information battle

The 24 year
militancy and separatist campaign that the army has been fighting is not about
elimination of terrorists alone. Much of the campaign has been about the
information battle, something the army has never been very adept at. Its silence
at the wrong times has cost it the image of a just army and it has been at the
receiving end of smear campaigns even when it takes the correct decisions as it
has very creditably done this time. It is all about information and timing. In
November 2004, it gained much credit for the quick decision to investigate and
put one of its officers through the military justice system. The officer had
been accused of raping a mother and her young daughter. The GCM conducted in
its wake (in precisely six weeks) found the officer guilty of attempted
molestation and sentenced him to “be dismissed from service”, a verdict and
sentence which was subsequently confirmed as per procedure but overturned by a
higher civil court to which the accused officer appealed as per his rights. It
gave enough credit to both the army and the judiciary in India, although many
in Kashmir perceived the reversal as a decision of a biased Indian judicial
system. The Army did not sufficiently publicise this important judgment of the
higher court and that is coming back today to treat its promises of justice
with much skepticism.

What is it this
time? Why the delay and what is the military justice system all about? The
nation must be made aware of this so that it is in a better position to appreciate
the difficulties of its army as also those of the innocent populace. It needs
to also know that in the conflict zone there are thousands of innocents who
have nothing to do with insurgency—ordinary human beings who fight daily
battles for existence with dignity and pride. While there may be many who carry
emotional support for separatism and may sympathise with militants or
separatists, it does not make them villains. The human rights and dignity of
these is as much the responsibility of the state (nation) in the overall spirit
of the hugely successful democratic model that India has established. In the
situation that presents itself, leaders have to perceive things in different
shades of grey, much against the usual trend of judging everything in black and
white.

Military justice
system

The army, smitten
by manipulation in the past and matured by its experience, invariably examines
misdemeanour by its troops first with an eye to prevent being manipulated.
Failure to do so will dampen the dynamism and will of its rank and file. This
is an important aspect which needs to be understood by human rights activists.
It may lead to delay in initiation of disciplinary proceedings and this delay
brings pressure from all quarters including the media and activists. When an
act of misdemeanour by uniformed personnel occurs, procedurally the army is
supposed to ascertain all facts and whether it occurred on active service,
through a court of inquiry (CoI). If the army perceives culpability, it has the
choice to file before the appropriate court of law to take over the case for
proceedings through the military justice system under the statutory Army Act
(1950) read in conjunction with Army Rules. Once the case is taken over, the
army authority carries out framing and hearing of charge(s) and thereafter
orders recording of the summary of evidence (SoE) which is to done by an
officer who should not be related to the case. The proceedings of the SoE are
processed for the final decision by the concerned superior authority as to the
mode of trial. A military court is then convened by the convening authority and
assembles along with an officer from the Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Branch
who acts as the legal adviser through the proceedings. The GCM, if ordered,
comprises a presiding officer and minimum four other officers who cannot be of
rank lower than the accused. The GCM can also conduct a joint trial if
necessary. There are defending and prosecuting officers appointed who can be
supplemented by civilian counsel if required. The proceedings are reduced to
writing in each session and civilian witnesses are also called to depose. The
verdict and sentence is to be confirmed by an authority higher than the one
which convened the court.

What has happened
in this particular case? As soon as the Army’s CoI ascertained that the
incident occurred at the place of the unit’s deployment on active service, the
case was not one of manipulation by inimical parties and there appeared prima
facie culpability, the army applied to the court of the judicial magistrate to
take over the case. The same was denied on grounds of the contentious aspect
whether the incident occurred on “active service” or otherwise. An appeal to
the sessions court met a similar fate. The accused remained attached to a
headquarters in Kupwara for disciplinary purpose. The army then went for appeal
in the J&K High Court under the provisions of Section 125 of the Army Act,
which lays down that in the event of concurrent jurisdiction of a criminal
court and court martial the discretion lies with the commanding officer of the
accused. The opposite parties took considerable time to file their response and
the court had to repeatedly adjourn. Through this elongated time the army was
unjustifiably accused of delaying tactics and its perception management efforts
could not better the bitter campaign to smear it.

Winning the
perception game

Eventually, the
High Court ruled in favor of the army, directing it to take over the case and
try the accused through the military justice system, vindicating the army’s
stance. The High Court in its judgment even observed that the counsel for the
army had stated that “the petitioners are keen to see the accused…..tried by
court martial at the earliest”. Since the CoI had already been completed before
the army’s decision to take over the case, recording of SoE was ordered. This
is a meticulous procedure which has bearing on the subsequent decisions to
decide the type of court to try the accused and the evidence so recorded can
be/is used during the proceedings of the court martial. The evidence so
recorded would have undergone further legal scrutiny by the army’s legal
officers and the procedure for a final decision would then have been initiated
which led to the current position to convene a GCM. Thus the trial is only now
set to begin as against the popular perception that it is over and verdict is
to be announced.

The army needs to
be complimented on its ability to see through the entire procedure with a sense
of balance and ensure that the alleged perpetrators are brought to justice but
like in any such system patience has to be exercised so that justice is meted
out and seen to be correctly executed. An information game is bound to ensue.
The public at large is justifiably unaware of the of the military justice
system. It is now up to the army to ensure that while imparting justice the
perception game is not lost because of the lack of information. Perhaps, a near
open court with daily briefs on the proceedings would not be a bad idea. There
is precedence to this and the army needs to ensure it looks at all options when
it comes to the information aspects while the GCM is in progress. There are
enough detractors awaiting a slip up.

Flare up in the
Valley

On April 30, 2010,
the army claimed to have foiled an infiltration bid from across the Line of
Control, in the Machil Sector of Kupwara by killing three armed militants from
Pakistan. It was, however, subsequently established that the encounter had been
staged and that the three alleged militants were in fact civilians who had been
lured to the army camp by promising them jobs as porters and then shot. They
were identified as Mohammed Shafi, Shehzad Ahmed and Riyaz Ahmed, residents of
Nadihal in Baramulla district.

On June 11, there
were protests in Srinagar against these killings during which the local police
used force to disperse the protesting youth resulting in the death of a 17-year
old boy Tufail Ahmad Mattoo. Several protest marches were organised across the
Valley in response to the killings. These resulted in clashes with police and
the CRPF, in which another boy was killed. This set off a vicious cycle of
violent street protests in Kashmir, causing over 120 deaths due to
stone-pelting from May to September 2010.

After the
incident, complaints from relatives of the victims led to the police arresting
three persons, Territorial Army jawan Abbas Shah, Basharat Lone and Abdul Hamid
Bhat, both associated with anti-terror operations, for their alleged
involvement in the case. The Jammu and Kashmir Police had in July 2010 filed a
charge-sheet against an army Colonel, a Major and seven others before the Chief
Judicial Magistrate in Sopore.

According to
reports, Indian intelligence agencies had claimed that these protests and
demonstrations were part of covert operations of Pakistani intelligence
agencies and were sponsored and supported by them. Media reports earlier in
March had suggested that with the support of its intelligence agencies,
Pakistan had been once again boosting terrorism in Kashmir.

It was reported
that in a meeting held in Muzaffarabad in January 2010, the United Jihad
Council called for reinvigorated jihad in Kashmir. In May 2010 increased
activities of terrorists was reported from across the border in Neelum valley
in Pakistani-administered Gilgit-Baltistan. The locals reported that large
numbers of terrorists, who did not appear to be Kashmiri, had set up camps in
the area with the intention of crossing into Kashmir. — TNS

Cause of delay

* On establishing
that the incident occurred on active service, the army moved the local courts
of law to take over the case

* The same was
denied on grounds of the contentious aspect whether the incident occurred on
active service or otherwise.

* The army then
went for appeal in the High Court. The opposite parties took considerable time
to file replies and the court had to repeatedly adjourn

* Through this
elongated time the army was unjustifiably accused of delaying tactics and its
perception management efforts could not better the bitter campaign to smear it

* Eventually, the
High Court ruled in favor of the army, directing it to take over the case and
try the accused through the military justice system, vindicating the army’s
stance

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20131231/main4.htm

Two Brigadier-rank
officers booked for harassing junior

Jaipur, December
30

Six Army officers,
including two of Brigadier rank, have been booked by the Ajmer Police for
allegedly harassing a lieutenant colonel and trying to prove him mentally ill
after he raised his voice against certain irregularities.

Lt Col Arun Kumar
of Composite Artillery Brigade in Nasirabad Cantonment alleged that his
superiors conspired and tried to prove him mentally ill after he complained
against certain irregularities and corrupt practices by the senior officers of
the brigade.

Defence
spokesperson Col S D Goswami said a court of inquiry has already been
initiated. "The Army has already instituted a court of inquiry to
ascertain the facts. The military chain of command is fully aware of the
incident," he said. In the complaint, 54-year old Arun Kumar alleged that
he found misuse of funds and other corrupt practices in the brigade and raised
a voice against it, but this invited adverse action against him and the Brigade
Commander and his deputy conspired against him.

After the
complaints, the Brigade Commander allegedly threatened the colonel that he
would not be able to continue his service in the Army. On May 17, the Brigadier
issued him a notice stating he was mentally ill, following which he was
admitted to the military hospital where, Arun alleged, Brigadier Ganguli
conspired with the military hospital’s Commander to prove him sick. He was also
harassed in the military hospital, he alleged. — PTI

‘Whistleblower’ Colonel

* Lt Col Arun Kumar of
Composite Artillery Brigade in Nasirabad Cantt alleged he found misuse of funds
in the brigade and raised a voice against it

* This, he says, invited
adverse action against him and the Brigade Commander and his deputy conspired
and tried to prove him mentally ill

Indian Army Chief
General Bikram Singh today took over as the Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee
(CoSC), a body of three service chiefs with the senior-most among them heading
it.

He succeeded IAF
Chief NAK Browne, who is superannuating on December 31. The IAF Chief has
headed the CoSC since September 1, 2012. In the IAF, he will be succeeded by
Chief designate Air Marshal Arup Raha. Both, Browne and Raha are fighter
pilots.

The IAF Chief
handed over the baton to Gen Singh in the presence of Navy Chief Admiral DK
Joshi at a meeting of the CoSC here. Gen Bikram Singh will head the CoSC till
July 31. He is also a frontrunner for being appointed as the Permanent, CoSC —
a post that has been recommended by Naresh Chandra Committee for reforms in the
higher defence management. — TNS

http://www.asianage.com/india/army-sets-cells-china-expertise-152

Army sets up cells
for China expertise

The Indian Army
has established “China cells” in its Northern, Eastern and Central Commands to
gather “expertise” about the giant eastern neighbour. The Army is also making
efforts to enable more of its personnel to learn the Mandarin language to
familiarise themselves with Chinese culture.

With China
remaining an enigma, the Indian Army has taken steps to promote its own
understanding of China and the way it functions. Knowledge of Mandarin Chinese
and Chinese culture and customs have in the past proved to be of valuable
assistance to senior Indian Army officers while dealing with their Chinese
counterparts during either routine flag meetings or at meetings called to
reduce tension in the wake of any incident. Besides, the Indian Army is also
keeping a close watch on Chinese military activities that have the potential to
affect Indian security interests.

The government had
recently given the Army the go-ahead to establish a mountain strike corps in
the eastern sector. India had also signed a Border Defence Cooperation
Agreement recently with China to eliminate the possibility of any sudden military
conflagration along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). However, India is worried
about increased Chinese military assertiveness in Asia and increased Chinese
spending on defence.

The Chinese
obsession with coveting Arunachal Pradesh — which it continues to refer to as
South Tibet — has also added to India’s worries.

Apart from
frequent transgressions by Chinese People’s Liberation Army border patrols into
territory that India considers its own, especially in the Ladakh sector, China
has also adopted a belligerent attitude recently in maritime disputes with its
eastern neighbours Japan and South Korea.

Stretches of the
Indian side of the 4,000-km Sino-Indian border falls under the overall
jurisdiction of the Indian Army’s Udhampur-based Northern Command, the
Lucknow-based Central Command and the Kolkata-based Eastern Command. The Indian
Army patrols the LAC while paramilitary forces patrol the international border
with China. The LAC is essentially the de-facto border since India and China
have differences over its demarcation.

A group of 25
elderly civilians and entrepreneurs from Rajouri district today embarked on a
motivational tour of north India as part of a programme conducted by the Army.

The motivational
tour, having the motto of 'Tajurba Aur Vishwas Desh Aapke Saath', was flagged
off from Kalakote today, a defence spokesman said here.

It is being
organised by the Rashtriya Rifles Battalion, based at Kalakote, under the aegis
of Counter Insurgency Force Uniform, he said.

The group will
visit cottage and small scale industries at Amritsar, Chandigarh and Baddi
(Himachal Pradesh), he said.

They will also
visit Palampur (HP), which has achieved near-green revolution, and will get a
unique opportunity to interact with their counterparts and officials of various
civic bodies to gain a first hand information on the activities being
undertaken by them, he said.

The tour will
enable them to undertake similar works in transforming their own methods and
practises into a self reliant one, he said.

They will visit
important historical places such as Golden Temple, Jallianwala Bagh and Wagha
Border in Amritsar; Rock Garden, Rose Garden and Sukhna Lake at Chandigarh;
Tashi Jang Monestary, Tea Garden and Dhauladhar National Park at Palampur, the
spokesman said.

The tour is
organised with a view to expose the entrepreneurs to the opportunities existing
in the neighbouring states of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, he said.

The Barak missiles
will arm the Barak 1 point defence systems acquired in 2000 and fitted to 12 IN
warships, including its lone aircraft carrier INS Viraat . The acquisition was
delayed following a ban imposed in 2006 after the MoD accused Rafael-IAI of
paying INR1.74 billion in bribes to senior Indian officials, including a
retired IN chief, to secure the Barak tender.